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Flowerpot Music
A fully participatory community event rooted in listening, play, and collective responsiveness.
What is Flowerpot Music
Flowerpot Music is a participatory music-making event where people of all ages and musical backgrounds come together to perform on a wide variety of unexpectedly beautiful instruments: flowerpots!
Designed for large, quiet indoor or outdoor spaces, participants spread throughout the space while listeners are free to sit, wander, or even lie down. Over the course of the hour, the space transforms into an atmospheric landscape of ceramic tones, attentive presence, and joyful discovery.
A community-centered project, Flowerpot Music nurtures inclusiveness, artistic empathy, intergenerational connection, and access to people not typically reached through traditional programming.
An Introduction
Additional audio and video materials are available on request.
Ideal Venue
Works best in:
A large, quiet indoor or outdoor spaces with minimal ambient noise
Flowerpot Music is highly adaptable and thrives in:
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campus green space, botanical gardens, parks
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atriums, gymnasiums, large galleries
Past Presentations Include:
Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City
Make Music Day in Prospect Park Refugia Festival
New York University
Philadelphia Flower Show
Participants Say
“There’s so much joy in community... To be able to gather like this and to share it in this way with utter strangers, it’s remarkable!”
Laura, Participant
Presenter Responsibilities
The Artistic Practice
Flowerpot Music is built from simple, playful, and meditative sound “games.”
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Bell-like tones sweep across the space in improvised gestures called blooms.
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Performers pair up to toss sounds back and forth in a frisbee exchange.
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A final flowerpot mountain marks the end of the piece in a final gesture of togetherness.
The Artistic Director shapes the experience by leading all instruction, pacing, and spatial layout. In special cases, the composer is available to support this work.
Possible Partnerships
Music
Community music schools, music educational organizations
Ceramic
Ceramic studios and clay collectives
Nature
Botanical organizations, arboretums, nature centers; ecology and sustainability groups
Community
Public parks, outdoor festivals, libraries, atriums, and cultural hubs
When participants bring flowerpots:
Creative Team
Elliot Cole
Composer
Created the underlying piece
and joins for certain in-person events
Peter Ferry
Artistic Director
Leads Flowerpot Music events
and advances productions
Why Presenters Choose Flowerpot Music
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Draws intergenerational audiences
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Transforms new attendees into returning enthusiasts
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Creates a distinctive signature event
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Provides a meditative and entertaining experience
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Delivers genuine community engagement without feeling forced
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It is ideal for presenters seeking energetic engagement, participatory programming, and a sonically distinctive event that brings new audiences into the fold.
Flowerpot Music offers a hands-on artistic experience that is welcoming, low-barrier, and memorable, while also bringing new community members into a presenter’s orbit.
